Hunting Ghosts, Filming Things
by Fey Nikola
Summary: Lucy: leader and narrator, Rebecca: tech expert, Shaun: historian and skeptic, Desmond: psychic and eye candy. Together they search for the truth behind stories of spirits and apparitions; they seek the reality outside the unreal; they look for the facts beyond the accepted. They're Spirit Stalkers. *cue logo*


"And this is the dining room." Shawn proclaimed, reading off his notebook instead of looking around the sumptuously appointed space.

"You mean, it is now." Desmond laughed, holding up a hand to sweep gently across the adjacent wall.

"Well, yes," The historian admitted reluctantly. "Forty years ago this room was converted into a dining room."

"The same time that the back of the house was renovated." Lucy concluded, looking around at the beautiful furnishings as Rebecca skipped around the table to get a wider frame of the trio.

"Yes, when the electrical and plumbing were upgraded, and that hideous modern kitchen was put in, the owners decided to take the lazy route and move the dining room here. In the time period we're interested in, it was actually used as-"

"A study." Desmond interjected, intensely interested in the wall he'd been feeling over. Or he just really liked the wallpaper, Rebecca mused. He took a step back to get a better look at it and bumped his hip into one of the heavy chairs, barely moving it.

"Desmond, we all know that you're the psychotic one here," Shawn started.

"Psychic!" Rebecca piped up, zooming in on Lucy and Shawn as the blonde woman used her handheld to get a shot of Desmond. That'd make for a good over-over come editing.

"No, I know what I said." Shawn gave their tech-head a longsuffering glare, then went back to a more venomous one aimed at Desmond. "But anyway you should leave the historical information to those who actually know what they're talking about instead of just making things up."

"Well Shawn, what did this room used to be, then?" Lucy asked so neutrally Rebecca could almost for a second believe it wasn't a set-up.

Shawn pursed his lips.

He cleared his throat.

He sighed.

"A study."

To his credit, Desmond only gave a small triumphant grin while the girls had a good giggle.

"Oh yes, ha ha, terribly funny. Well if you're so all-knowing Mr. Tarot Cards, do something psychic. Contact a ghost, or something." Shawn snapped.

"Actually, he's been talking to me for about a minute now, and I think his clothes are the same kind you showed me." Desmond replied, now leaning against the table. Rebecca quickly swung her camera around to focus on the psychic and the rest of the empty room.

"What's he look like?" She asked eagerly, quickly adjusting her headphones to make sure the mics were picking up everything they could. Gonna have to play it back later to see if there were any whispers.

"He's older, but not old. Black hair going grey, long-ish, and wearing a sword. Got a wicked looking scar through one eye. And he keeps calling me his nephew." He sounded amused by the last part. Rebecca saw Lucy edge along the wall to get a better angle on Desmond's face, so she backed up a bit to get Shawn and all of his disbelief into her frame. "Sorry, I'm not your nephew, just a visitor. Could you tell me a little about yourself, and this place?"

"Oh please, spare me from charlatans and frauds." Shawn murmured, though not quietly enough. Rebecca hissed back at him to shut up, and Lucy shot him a disapproving look, to which he scoffed.

"Really? You're going to take this seriously? If we ignore for a second that his description couldn't be any more vague, how am I expected to believe that he, a twenty-first century American who thinks that Canada is a foreign country, can speak fluent Italian?" The historian fiddled with his notebook agitatedly, nearly tearing out several pages.

"He's just got a really heavy accent." In the face of all this British bluster, Rebecca was impressed by Desmond's zen-like calm. She'd have to get him to teach her that. Lucy had a hand over her mouth to stifle any unprofessional giggles. Shawn, though, was passing frustration and heading towards downright _pissed_.

"Oh, that's so terrible! The late-fifteenth century Tuscan nobleman has a_ thick Italian accent _while he talks to you _in English_. Right. Bullocks."

"_Shawn_." Lucy had had enough. Rebecca knew Lucy's 'had enough' face, and that was most certainly it. Shawn had the decency to look mildly chastised.

"No, he's speaking Italian, I just understand him as if he were speaking English." Desmond actually turned a little to make eye contact with his skeptic, a self-assured little smirk hidden from their petite blonde overlord.

"And I say again: bullocks."

"Is he saying anything else?" Lucy prompted, trying to get everyone back on subject. Desmond turned to look at her and shook his head.

"He said something about the house belonging to his family, and he tried to tell me his name, but all I really got was 'Mario' or something like that before he left." Rebecca could practically see Shawn's ears perk up in spite of himself and moved to get his face for what would likely be a good soundbite.

"You might mean Mario Auditore, a mercenary born in 1434; he played significant role in the Battle of Anghiari at age six and continued to be an impressive figure in Tuscan and Florentine military history for decades after. He is indeed the owner of this villa during the time period we're investigating." Shawn rattled off in a tone perfect for quick history lessons on TV. She'd use this clip in the final cut for sure.

Desmond shrugged and took one last look at that wall again before Lucy led them like sheep into the study.

"I get a strong feeling of sadness in this room." Desmond even seemed to walk quietly as he entered, and Rebecca had to admit that the aptly named 'Grey Room' did indeed inspire a sense of gravity and weight on a person. Or it was just the depressing drapes.

"Yes, well, the decor leaves something to be desired, doesn't it?" Lucy shot Shawn a pointed glance, and from behind the safety of his own camera he rolled his eyes. "Right; the Grey Room. Once used as the master bedroom, it has been since turned into a spare bedroom of last resort. That being because of all the accounts of a woman's ghost being seen leaning over the side of the bed when people wake. I suppose this would be where you keep the in-laws over holidays."

There was more than one snerk, and Lucy knew she couldn't glare everyone into submission all at once and let it slide. Instead she turned her focus to Desmond, who was gravitating to the far side of the bed.

"It's not a ghost, really. More like really intense memories left behind." Desmond knelt at the side of the bed, rested his elbows on the quilted covers and clasped his hands together. "She stayed here like this for hours, I think. Praying for someone she loved? Probably someone close to her who died."

Rebecca got a good angle from the far side of the bed with the sunlight filtering through the crocheted curtains. Desmond looked up at her for a second, solemn and grave, before he gave a quick smile.

"She didn't die here, but the intense emotions left a shadow behind. You could probably get something visual if you left a camera here 'Becca." Desmond smoothed out the indents in the covers as he stood, and Lucy moved helpfully into frame.

"Then that's what we'll do. Rebecca'll set up a camera in here and take two to the attic, I'll take the EVP session in the study. Desmond, you'll spend the night in the dining room and Shawn has the sitting room and the play room. We'll meet back at base camp at two AM to split into pairs and examine the grounds." She looked really commanding at this angle and with her hands on her hips. Another shot for the final cut.

"And I get two rooms because?" Shawn huffed.

"Because they're connected, and you only need to sit in the doorway between them. Besides, I thought you were interested in the armour and the swords." Lucy teased as they filed out into the main hall/home base.

"Really, it says something that they keep pieces of armour better suited to a museum in a _child's playroom_." Shawn muttered as he headed over to grab one of the two tripods he'd be using.

Lucy laid her recorder on the desk and backed away a few paces to sit on the floor. Her handheld recorded her in the eerie green glow of nightvision, and the camera on the tripod in the corner recorded regularly. Rebecca told her that the contrast would be better somehow after editing, and who was she to argue with the master?

She took a moment to settle herself into her blanket and adjust her grip on the handheld so that she was properly framed.

"Hello? If anyone is there, I mean you no harm." She started out easy, more to settle her nerves than expecting a reply.

"My name is Lucy, what's yours?"

The dark seemed to press in around her, and she tried to relax. She imagined something skittering around just out of sight, but took a deep breath and held as still as she could.

"If you're there, could you give me a sign? Knock on the walls, or the desk maybe? Please?"

She doubted manners would matter much to a ghost, but better to err on the side of caution. Her ears rang with the silence.

_knock_

She nearly yelped, and definitely jumped. She held herself so still and taut her teeth ached from the strain as she turned her handheld in the direction the noise came from.

_Knock_

That one was nearer, on the desk itself maybe? Her panting was starting to get loud, and she forced her muscles to relax before she strained something. She couldn't stop the trembling, though.

_KNOCK_

A small whimper. "Th-thank you. That's enough."

_**BANG**_

She yelped and jumped up from where the floor next to her had shaken, training her handheld there in case there were any clues she couldn't see now through her panic.

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going!" It only took her a second to grab her blanket, and she made the executive decision to leave the recorder behind; it had enough power to last until morning. Lucy wasn't sure she would though, and fled to join Desmond in the dining room.

"Alright, we're at hour number one and nothing yet." Rebecca reported to the tripod to her left. The attic was dusty and full of boxes and junk, not quite pitch dark but close enough.

"Lucy said I wasn't supposed to bring this out until the second hour, but hey, I'm a rebel." A nice shit-eating grin for the camera before she started rifling through her dufflebag. It took her a solid minute to get the fragile piece of fabric out from under her extra wide angle lens and spare battery packs.

"Here we go!" She turned to the other camera set up in front of where she was sitting. That'd make editing that minute out a breeze. "Now this is no ordinary snot-rag. This belonged to Christina Vespuchi, who if you listen to Shawn, would be able to tell you hours and hours' worth of facts about her."

Another grin, back at the left-hand camera. "I, on the other hand, will not bore you to death. She was one seriously hot mama back in the day, and she was often used as a model for paintings and stuff. There's some anecdote about her making her cousin famous, or something, but that's not why I have her hanky here."

Rebecca stood and draped the handkerchief over an old coat rack, making sure to adjust camera-left so that she wasn't blocking it or the dark corridor of boxes beyond it.

"Now, legend has it, and by legend I mean Shawn of course, that Christina had some sort of connection to the Auditore family. Of course, that was while part of the family lived in Florence before they were all killed or something, so I don't know how true it is. Still, it's kinda cool to be able to use historical germs for ghost hunting!"

Shawn didn't bother to talk to the cameras. He didn't try to call out to any ghosts. He was only a part of this group to dig up facts on the various locales they were sent to, occasionally point a video camera around, and bring some class and respectability to the programme.

He was deep in research for the next location; a desert fortress apparently haunted by assassins.

_Clink_

He raised his head absently and looked into the playroom. Of course the family letting them film had make sure the maids put away their darling tot's toys so that the world wouldn't see their sloppy habits. Shawn shrugged, figuring that it was likely some plaything or another settling in one of the various toy chests around the room.

He shivered with a sudden chill and wrapped the blanket around his hot water bottle tighter against his feet and took a quick gulp from his thermos.

_clink Clack_

Now he was a little confused, and looked around the sitting room. The sound had seemed to come from the middle of the room, which wasn't terribly likely because there wasn't anything there.

He contemplated getting up to look around, but dismissed it in the face of the real work he had to get dome and took another gulp from the thermos as he glanced at his watch. "Still three hours to go." He muttered to himself, and ignored the faint sounds of boots heading out into the main hall.

He'd never seen anything like this place. His inner eye was nearly spinning with the different colors, and trying to keep track of the shades, manifestations, orbs, impressions, and the few actual ghosts was getting to be a bit of a headache.

Still, no point complaining.

Lucy had joined him after only half an hour, which was pretty normal for her. She usually sought out Rebecca when they were supposed to 'go solo', mostly because 'Becca was so fearless, and Lucy thought she needed more watching.

He snuck a glance at her and admired the way the moonlight seemed to turn her hair silvery. She was always so calm and capable, but when it came to being alone in the dark with things that go bump-bang-crash in the night...

But then, he mused, she's actually a bit of a magnet. Not as much as he was he considered as he watched someone in a three-piece suit walk through the corner of the dining table and fade away while 'Mario' worked away at a phantom desk behind him. Still, she had a bit of a glow around her that, to the more active phenomenon, made her more interesting than the average person.

"What do you see there?" She interrupted his idle line of thought, and Desmond had to smile at her. Calm and in control again, as long as she had someone else to be brave for.

"There used to be something on the wall here," He pointed out, knowing that this was mostly for the benefit of the camera; the team had already asked him at base camp why he'd been 'molesting' the wall.

"What's that?" She asked, using the chance to sidle up and lean against the table beside him.

"A map, I think. It's drawn out on a bunch of pieces of paper, and it's really faded, but it's a map of the whole world." He idly indicated where the borders of the map were, and Lucy took the excuse to lean against his shoulder, presumably to see better. "It's pretty accurate too."

"Wait, but 'In fourteen-ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.' How could there be an accurate map of the whole world on the wall during that time period?" She wondered, her near arm reaching around his shoulders and her breath tickling his ear.

"Dunno. I could try asking someone." He turned to face her, their noses nearly brushing. Lucy blinked and paused for a moment, and Desmond had to wonder if she was considering that they were still in front of a camera. He wondered if she cared about it. He wondered if he did.

The decision was taken out of his hands when a man in white jumped down through the wall above and landed in a crouch partially inside Lucy's thigh. Desmond couldn't help but jerk her out of the way, and nearly lost sight of him in a crowd of children suddenly running by.

"Woah, Desmond, are you okay?" Lucy was bracing herself against his chest which at any other time he wouldn't be against, but right then it was a distraction from 'Mario' standing up to greet the man-in-white.

"Shh, I'll tell you in a sec." He hissed and let go of her to try and get closer. He could almost hear words, but they were distant, distorted, and the pack of screaming children was still in the way. 'Mario' and the man-in-white had a quick conversation before the man-in-white waved and walked through the wall in the back corner.

"Okay, okay." Desmond breathed and relaxed his sight so that 'Mario' faded away as he walked back to his desk and the kid's laughter was only a whisper. "Shawn was right about those columns up there having once been a balcony. A man wearing a lot of white jumped down and then walked through the wall just here."

"Next to the camera, where we're pretty sure the hidden room is?" Lucy confirmed, following him as he walked over to where a china cabinet now stood. "That's good, maybe we got something."

"Maybe." He gave a convincing smile, but doubted that any camera could pick up the kinds of things he could see.

"Alright, everybody ready?" Lucy clapped her hands together as they geared up to head outside. Rebecca slipped on her fingerless gloves while Desmond put on his jacket, and Lucy was wearing that ridiculous pink hat with the enormous pom-pom she'd knitted herself. Shawn tied his scarf tightly around his neck and made sure that the spare holding his hot water bottle to his chest was still firmly in place.

"Ready and rarin' ta go, Luce." Rebecca confirmed, claiming the handheld for the Girls' Team. Shawn reached out to get the Boys', but Desmond already had it trained on Lucy. He stifled a mild curse, and instead followed their nearly-fearless leader out front so that they could get some good establishing shots.

"Mice."

"You think mice knocked on the floor loud enough for me to hear it in the dining room?"

"No, I think mice made a little bit of noise, and then Lucy's imagination ran away from her, and she made the bang you heard. And then she ran into your waiting arms, where you were ever so comforting, and likely encouraged her imagination to make something bigger out of it than-"

"Wait. Did you hear that?"

"What now, a rat?"

"Oh, no sorry. Just a mother, baby and maid enjoying the garden. I thought it was the man-in-white again."

"... You see a cat, and you think it's a baby? Really Desmond, a little less imagination and little more observation, please."

"Well yeah, there was a cat, but that wasn't-"

"Desmond."

"Shawn?"

"I don't care."

"Ah, right. Sorry."

"I wish you'd stop forgetting."

"Look! There!" Rebecca pointed vigorously at the screen, and Shawn squinted and Desmond cocked his head to the side and Lucy politely moved the obstructing finger out of the way. "Right there. Tell me that's not your man in white, Des."

Desmond turned his head back to the other side and shuffled closer to the tiny screen on the camera.

"It kinda looks like him. If he didn't have arms. Or legs." Rebecca pulled the camera away from Desmond, taking another look at the still image of a white figure leaning over Christina's handkerchief.

"It's right there. Once I get back to my lair I'll be able to show you, clear as day." She asserted, removing the memory card to pack it away carefully in the uber-padded waterproof, dustproof, magnet-proof case. "Now let's take a look at what Shawn got!"

"I already reviewed it. Nothing but an orb around eleven o'clock that doesn't do anything but exit the sitting room. Moving on."

What a stick in the mud. Reviewing was half the fun. She picked up the Grey Room camera and started it from the beginning.

"Oh Lucy, you struck gold here. Listen to this." Desmond crowed, pulling Rebecca's attention away after only an hour of fast-forwarded footage. He plugged the audio-recorder into their jointly owned laptop and Shawn tossed him the USB speakers.

"You mean I got more than a few shaky pipes in the wall?" Lucy asked facetiously, pointedly not looking at Shawn, who pointedly looked like he didn't give a fuck. Desmond pulled up the audio file and started it at the beginning.

There was a clear click when the recorder was set down, then the shuffling of Lucy moving away from it and getting settled. There was a two minute silence, and then Lucy's clear voice sounded.

"Hello? If anyone is there, I mean you no harm." She sounded tentative, but pleasant, like she was meeting someone for the first time.

_"...oo... i... ooc..."_

They looked around at each other, Shawn being the only skeptical face amongst the excited ones.

"My name is Lucy, what's yours?"

_"...au..ia."_

Desmond hit the pause button, and Rebecca resisted the urge to grab his face and kiss him. They could use that in promos, in the intro for the episode, play it multiple times during Lucy's solo segment, and in the ending wrap-up. She grinned and pulled Lucy into a hug. Pure gold, alright.

"There may be more, I left everything running." Lucy admitted, letting her excitement get the better of her for a change and hugging 'Becca back hard. The brunette leaned out of the hug for an instant to reel both the willing and unwilling boys in.

"Even if you think its floorboards groaning, or a breeze or whatever, this is still really good for ratings!" She insisted as Shawn half-heartedly tried to struggle loose.

"Yes, it's bloody marvelous, best thing in the world since sliced bread, now get off!"

Rebecca had to resist the temptation to just sit down and immediately set to work on the raw footage. She still had to help Lucy film the outro clip outside. The narration would be taken care of in the sound booth back home.

"'Kay guys, put everything away nice and neat, and then we need to get to the airport before noon." A playful groan from Desmond pulled a small smile onto Lucy's face. "And if you're quick we'll get fast food."

"Yes ma'am!" Shawn scoffed into his duffle, but Desmond didn't care as he started shrinking tripods.

"Com'on Luce, while we've got the sunrise!" Rebecca called from the front door, already excited to move on to the next haunt.


End file.
